Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority

Case Study on Water Safety Plans Implementation,

Benefits and Challenges

Presented at Water Utilities East Africa Conference

September 10 - 12, 2012 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Presenters: Eng. Issa Y.Osena issaosena@yahoo.com Eng. Patrick Kibasa pkibasa@yahoo.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TZS 789:2003

Junction of Mawenzi / Bath Road P.O Box 1001, Moshi , Tanzania :

Tel: +255- 27-2751164, Fax: +255- 27-2754256 : E-Mail: info@muwsa.or.tz, Website:

http://www.muwsa.or.tz

Certificate TZ 11/2022

ii

List of Abbreviation

CI Cast Iron

DCI Ductile Iron

ISO International Standards Organization

IWA International water Association

KCMC Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre

MD Managing Director

MUWSA Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority

NRW Non – Revenue Water

PE Polyethylene

QMS Quality Management System

TBS Tanzania Bureau of Standards

TZS Tanzanian Standards

uPVC Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride

WHO World Health Organization

WOP Water Operators Partnership

WSP Water Safety Plan

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Table of Contents

List of Abbreviation……………………………………………………………………..……...…………ii

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………...iii

List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………..v

Biographies……………………………………………………………………………………………….vi

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………..…viii

MUWSA background…………………………………………………………………………………….ix

1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 Town……………………………………………………………………………………………...1

1.2 Water Supply and Sewerage Infrastructure…….……………………………….……………1

1.2.1 Water Supply System………..………………………………………………………………….1

1.2.2 Sewerage System………………………………………………………………………………..2

2.0 Overview of Water Quality………………………………………………………………...........3

3.0 WSP Approach…………………………………………………………………………………...5

4.0 Developing WSps………………………………………………………………………………..6

5.0 Development and Implementation of MUWSA WSP………………………………………...7

5.1 Preparation………………………………………………………………………………...……..7

5.2 System Assessment……………………………………………………………………………..7

5.3 Operational Monitoring…………………………………………………………………………..8

5.4 Management Plans………………………………………………………………………………9

5.5 12 Months Achievements……………………………………………………………………...10

5.6 Challenges………………………………………………………………………………………10

5.7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………11

6.0 References………………………………………………………………………………………11

iv

List of Tables

Table No. 1: Production of water from each source as per June 2012………………………..…2

Table No. 2: Summary of Water Quality from January, 2012 to June, 2012……….…….....…..4

Table No. 3: Factors Considered during Documentation and Description of the System ……..8

Table No. 4 : Established WSP Supporting Programme………………………………………….10

v

List of Figures

Figure 1: MUWSA Water and Sewerage Facilities Map……………………………..………………3

Figure 2: Shiri spring………………………………………………………………………..…………...4

Figure 3: Disinfection facilities at Spring Sources and Reservoirs….……………………………...5

Figure 4: Overview of the key steps in the development of water safety plans……………..…….6

vi

Biographies

Speaker 1 : Eng. Issa Y. Osena.

Position : Technical Manager

Company : Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority

Country: Tanzania

Eng. Issa Osena, is a registered Professional Civil Engineer, with specialization in Water

Resources Engineering. He holds BSc. and MSc. engineering degrees from University of Dar es

Salaam and MBA degree from East and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI). He is

presently working with Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Moshi, Tanzania, in

the position of Technical Manager, where he is principally responsible with implementation of all

measures that ensure adequate and properly functioning Water Supply and Sewerage collection

/disposal Systems in Moshi Municipality. Having worked in the Water and Sanitation sector for

over 20 years, his experience includes Rural and Urban Water Supply Systems Design,

Construction, Operation and Maintanance; Management of Water Supply and Sewerage

Infrastructural Development Projects; and benchmarking contacts with leading african water and

sanitation utilities eg. Umgeni Water, of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and NAM Water, of

Windhoek Namibia. He has attended various national and international water related trainings

and conferences, and is a member of the International Water Association, IWA.

Speaker 2 : Eng. Patrick Kibasa.

Position : Operations and Maintenance Engineer

Company : Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Authority

Country : Tanzania

Eng. Kibasa graduated from Dar es Salaam University with a major in Civil Engineering

specialized in water resources engineering. He holds MSc. Water Recourses engineering from

Dar Es Salaam University. He is registered professional Civil Engineer and a member of

Institution of Engineers Tanzania.

Eng. Kibasa is currently operations and maintenance engineer at Moshi Urban Water Supply

and Sanitation Authority [MUWSA]. In this capacity he is responsible for production and

distribution of portable water at Moshi Municipal. He is presently a team leader of MUWSA’s

WSP team which is responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining the WSP. Prior to

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joining the organization he was Technical Manager at Kiliwater Company Limited, an

autonomous organization responsible for provision of clean, safe and portable piped water at

Rombo district and parts of Moshi district in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. While there, he was

responsible for water production, distribution and coordination of all technical matters of the

company. He has an extensive experience in Urban and Rural water supply and sanitation for

about 10 years in Tanzania, a wide experience in planning, designing and supervision of water

supply and sanitation projects and a broad knowledge of maintenance and repair works.

viii

Abstract

Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority is one of autonomous but government

owned utilities responsible for provision of clean and safe water services and collection and

disposal of waste water in Moshi Municipality recently the Authority has embarked on

formulation and implementation of Water safety plan as one of its service sustainability and

improvement measures.

Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of drinking-

water supply through the use of a comprehensive management approach that encompasses

systemic identification of risks and implementation of control measures at all steps in water

supply system from catchments to consumers.

With the Support from International Water Association (IWA) and Water Operators Partnership

(WOP), the three Water Utilities of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (Kenya),

Mombasa Water and sanitation Company Limited (Kenya) and Moshi Water Supply and

Sewerage Authority(Tanzania) are jointly formulating WSPs but tailored for each utility. Each

utility has formed a team which is undertaking the tasks of establishing and documenting a WSP

specific for their utility. Having started in July 2011, the teams have managed to develop WSPs

in their utilities; presently, the teams are fine tuning their documents.

WSPs are now being adopted worldwide as a better approach to protecting water quality and

ensuring public health, compared to traditional approach of water quality and safety

management which rely on the testing of drinking water either as it leaves the treatment works

or at selected points within the distribution system (end-product testing). With WSP, which is

preventive based; reactive and curative responses to water quality hazards, which are often

characterized with results which are too little and situations whereby it is too late for preventive

action, are avoided.

On the other hand, the major challenge experienced is communication to staff involved in WSP

implementation that the WSP is not additional work, but is rather a new way of planning and

undertaking current work. There is a common perception that WSPs are developed alongside

existing managerial and operational tasks and this can often lead to WSPs being viewed as a

one-off project. This view can lead to the WSP not being seen as a mainstream activity within a

utility’s operation and can create unrest or amongst staff that see it only as additional work.

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MUWSA background

Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (MUWSA), is a fully autonomous but

government owned organization responsible for provision of clean and safe water; collection

and disposal of wastewater to the population of Moshi, the town of mount Kilimanjaro, and

some parts of Moshi Rural and Hai Districts.

MUWSA was first established as one of three semi autonomous commercial oriented Water

Departments (together with Tanga and Arusha) in 1994, as Ministry of Water’s pilot programme

towards ensuring sustainability of water and sanitation services in urban centres. With

successful operation and service provision, in July 1998 the Government through Ministry

responsible with Water declared a total of 8 regional Water Departments including Moshi as fully

autonomous entities . These 8 Water and Sewerage Authorities were Moshi, Tanga, Arusha,

Morogoro, Mbeya, Mwanza, Tabora, and Dodoma.

Presently MUWSA is one of the 19 Autonomous Water Supply and Sewerage utilities in

category A, which means meeting all operational expenses plus minor investments. MUWSA

operates according to the Water Supply and Sanitation Act No 12 of 2009, the Memorandum of

Understanding and Guideline between MUWSA and MoWI; and the Performance Agreement

between MUWSA and EWURA. MUWSA is governed by the Board of Directors which is

responsible for carrying out and managing the functions, business and affairs of the Authority. It

is headed by the Managing Director, with 3 Departmental Managers and 12 Sections and

Support Units. At present, the Authority has a total of 149 permanent employees.

MUWSA supplies its customers with water which meets both Tanzania and WHO Standards for

drinking water, and has been certified by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) – certificate

no. TZS 789: 2003, as from February 2007.

After being certified by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards for provision of high quality water,

MUWSA has also given its best endeavors to establish and optimize a modern, systematic and

professional quality management system that complied with international standards so as to

provide all its services at the highest quality.

In this regard, MUWSA has been certified by ISO as an organization which meets ISO

9001:2008 quality management system requirements since December 2011.

1

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Moshi Town

Moshi Municipality, with an area of 58 km2, lies approximately 3º18'S of the Equator and 38º

20'E of Greenwich Meridian, on the Southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest roof of

Africa. With a total population of about 210,000 people projected from 2002 population Census,

Moshi Municipality is an administrative and commercial centre of Kilimanjaro Region. The town

is located in the Northeast Tanzania, within a few hours drive to the numerous tourists

attractions such as Manyara, Ngorongoro,Tarangire and Kilimanjaro National Parks; Ngurdoto,

Momela and Mkomazi Games Reserves and the climbing of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Moshi Municipality has a number of Social-Economic activities, including numerous trainings

institutions, for example the famous Police College and 3 University level Colleges, a National

Medical Referral Centre, Coffee and Horticulture plantations, and many other Commercial and

Entrepreneurial undertakings to which a supply of safe and clean water and the provision of

sewerage services is of paramount importance.

1.2 Water Supply and Sewerage Infrastructure

1.2.1 Water Supply System

MUWSA water supply originates from 5 sources, which are 3 springs and 2 boreholes with a

total average production of 26,322 m3 per day, as shown in table No. 1 below. The supply

network consists of trunk main and distribution networks made of Steel, DCI, CI, uPVC and PE

materials ranging from diameter of 50 mm-500 mm. The total length is about 22 km for the trunk

mains, 420 km for distribution lines and 650 km for consumer connections. The total storage

capacity is about 8,885 m3 comprising of reinforced concrete ground tanks. Currently, the

distribution network covers 98% of the total service area, whereby 95% of Municipal population

is served. As at 30th June, 2012 MUWSA had a total of 19,856 water consumer connections.

2

Table No 1. Production of water from each source as per June 2012

Type of source

SPRINGS BOREHOLES Total

Average

Production

(m3/day)

Source Nsere Spring Shiri Spring Chekereni

Spring

Mawenzi

Borehole

KCMC

Borehole

Average

Production

(m3/day)

7,553 13,314 1,228 3,470 757 26,322

1.2.2 Sewerage System

MUWSA is running a Conventional system of collecting, treating and disposing wastewater

generated from domestic, commercial, institutional and industrial centres within Moshi

Municipality. The service coverage is 14% of Moshi Municipal area, and the population served

by this network is 27% of the Municipal population. The remaining population (73%) uses on-

site sanitation, namely pit latrines and septic tank systems.

The sewer network has a total length of 51.6 km, with pipes made of uPVC, Asbestos and

Concrete. Currently 2,293 customers are connected to this network.

Sewage treatment is done through Waste Stabilization Ponds, comprising of one Anaerobic,

two Facultative and six Maturation ponds with a total volume of 143,664 m3.The design capacity

is 4,500 m3 of sewage per day, however the ponds have been receiving only an average of

3,800 m3 of sewage per day.

3

Figure 1: MUWSA Water and Sewerage Facilities Map

2.0 Overview of Water Quality

The quality of water abstracted from three spring sources is excellent; disinfection with Calcium

Hypochlorite (65% Chlorine) is the only unit operation done at spring sources. However, in

order to safe guard the health of MUWSA consumers’ chlorination is carried out again at

storage tanks so as to maintain the level of residual chlorine recommended by WHO. On the

other hand water produced from boreholes is pumped directly to the distribution network. Table

1 below summarizes the basic parameters for water quality abstracted at water sources and

distributed for the past six month.

Despite the fact that most of parameters meet WHO recommended limits, MUWSA has decided

to adopt WSP that is central in ensuring safe drinking water now and in the future. WSP entails

understanding the risks that allow MUWSA to implement effective controls that safeguard water

quality for the entire supply chain i.e. from catchment to consumer’s taps. This proactive

approach to managing risks means that MUWSA can anticipate problems and protect public

health.

4

Table No 2. Summary of Water Quality from January, 2012 to June, 2012.

Parameters

Water Sources Storage Tanks

Selected Points in Distribution Network

WHO Recommended Limits Springs Boreholes

Physical

pH 6.96 7.2 7.12 7.03 6.5-8.5

Temperature (ºC) 22.68 23.33 24.18 24.33 -

Conductivity (µS/cm) 95.81 63.66 97.32 95.63 -

Total Dissolved Solids(mg/l) 45.74 29.78 47.57 44.01 1000

Turbidity (NTU) 0.468 0.458 0.405 0.424 15

Chemical

Chlorine Residual (mg/l) NIL NIL 0.278 0.229 0.2-0.5

Iron (mg/l) 0.046 0.028 0.029 0.027 0.3

Manganese (mg/l) 0.053 0.062 0.043 0.044 0.5

Sulphide (mg/l) 0.035 0.033 0.055 0.031 0.5

Fluoride (mg/l) 0.241 0.124 0.163 0.166 1.5

Phosphate (mg/l) 3.331 2.092 2.648 2.766 6

Ammonia (mg/l) 0.087 0.076 0.083 0.074 0.5

Nitrate (mg/l) 7.17 5.94 4.75 7.69 30

Microbial

E. Coli (0cfu/ml) 0 0 0 0 0cfu/100ml

Figure 2: Shiri spring

5

Figure 3: Disinfection facilities at Spring Sources and Reservoirs

3.0 WSP Approach

Water safety plans (WSPs) are a form of water quality assurance through a multi-barrier

concept [1]. The multiple barrier principle implies that actions are required at all stages in the

process of producing and distributing water in order to protect water quality. This includes

source protection, treatment (when applied) through several different stages, prevention of

contamination during distribution (piped or non-piped) and maintenance within households.

There are indicators used as primarily means of verification of the WSP in meeting water quality

objectives rather than as a routine tool for monitoring water quality [1]. Moreover, WSPs

provides an organized and structured system to minimize the chance of failure through

oversight or management lapse. The process provides consistency with which safe water is

supplied and provides contingency plans to respond to system failures or unforeseeable

hazardous events. Water safety plans can be developed generically for small supplies rather

than for individual supplies.

The experience with WSPs to date has primarily been within utility supplies; particularly those in

developed countries. A variety of experiences have been documented [2, 3, 4, and 5]. This

paper presents experience of Moshi Urban Water Supply Authority, The first Tanzanian Water

Supply Utility to develop and implement WSP.

6

4.0 Developing WSPs

WSP comprises, as a minimum, the three essential actions that are the responsibility of the

drinking-water supplier in order to ensure that drinking-water is safe [6]. These actions are:

System assessment;

Operational monitoring; and

Management plans, documentation and communication.

In developing a Water Safety Plan these can be broken down into a series of steps as outlined

in figure 1. The major objectives of these steps is to ensure good drinking water supply practice

i.e. to minimize contamination of water sources, to reduce or remove contamination through

treatment processes and to prevent contamination during storage, distribution and handling of

drinking-water.

Figure 4: Overview of the key steps in the development of water safety plans

Water Safety Plan

Preparation Assembling the WSP team

System assessment Describe the water supply system Identify the hazards and assess the risks Determine , reassess and prioritize the risks Develop, maintain an improvement plan

6. Identify control measures

Operational monitoring Defining monitoring of control measures Verify the effectiveness of WSP

Management plans Prepare management procedures Develop Supporting programmes

Feedback and Improvement Plan and carry out periodic review of the WSP

Revise the WSP following an incident

7

5.0 Development and Implementation of MUWSA WSP

In recognition of the role of management commitment in implementation of WSP, presentation

was made to members of management on the benefits of WSP. This process was vital for

obtaining support for changes in working practices and to actively promote water safety as a

goal of the organization. After having a clear and reasonable argument about why the adoption

of a WSP is important and advantageous to MUWSA; WSP was developed following steps

outlined in figure 1.

5.1 Preparations

The first step was to assemble a team which is among the prerequisites for development and

implementation of WSP. A multidisciplinary team of employees with a thorough understanding

of MUWSA drinking water system has been appointed and issued letters of appointment and

terms of references by MD. The team constituted technical and non technical staff from the

entire supply chain. The team was initially trained by one of WOP partner (Nairobi City Water

and Sewerage Company) in Moshi and further training was done by NETWAS Training

International with support from IWA. Apart from that some members of the team had an

opportunity to attend Technical site visit to other WOP partners i.e. Nairobi and Mombasa cities

spearheaded by IWA.

5.2 System Assessment

Description and documented of water supply system is crucial for understanding of the system

including the range and magnitude of hazards that may occor and the ability of existing

processes and infrastructure to manage actual/potential risks. During this process, various

factors for each step in the water supply system were considered (see Table 2). Maps and

several information’s of the system from long serving technicians were used. Finally the

description of the intended use of water was also included and flow diagram of the water supply

system was constructed so as to enable hazards to be identified clearly for each component of

the system.

8

Table No 3: Factors Considered during Documentation and Description of the System

Source Water and Catchment

Treatment Distribution System

Capacity of the source in relation to demand

Process applied Number of service reservoirs

Protection measures applied Number of individual units Volume of these reservoirs

Development in the catchment that affect quality

Age of plant Age of reservoirs

Known water quality problems Known design faults Known design faults

Area/s of distribution and population served

Known operational problems

Source: [7]

After constructing a flow diagram for the entire supply chain, potential hazards for the

catchments, treatment, distribution network and consumer premises that can affect the safety of

drinking water were identified. Furthermore, for each hazard identified, a risk prioritization was

then established by means of a calculated risk factor, which was obtained by multiplying the

likelihood of its occurrence (ranging from unlikely to almost certain) and the severity of the

consequences (ranging from insignificant to catastrophic).

For Control measures which were previous but have been found to be inadequate improvement

plans have been drawn up. Each improvement plan has an owner to take responsibility for

implementation and an implementation date target. On the other hand, the budget for each

improvement plan has been established and incorporated in five years strategic plan of MUWSA

and has already been approved by board of directors.

5.3 Operational Monitoring

Monitoring of control measures is essential for assessment of the performance of control

measures at appropriate time intervals, so as to ensure the control measures applied at a point

in the system are achieving their objectives. Matrices of what has to be monitored, how, where,

when and who will do the monitoring have been established from catchment level to consumers

taps.

9

In addition to operational monitoring of the performance of the individual components of a

drinking-water system, verification is necessary for reassurance that the system as a whole is

operating safely. Presently MUWSA is doing water quality tests i.e. physical, chemical and

microbial tests on weekly basis for the entire supply chain. Moreover, MUWSA performs audit

(both internal and external audit) so as to ensure all components of water supply system

perform as per intended targets. MUWSA has recently received its ISO 9001: 2008 Quality

Management System Certificate. Rigorous internal and external auditing have been undertaken

prior to certification; and during these audits, the operations records of all treatment processes

and distribution system maintenance was reviewed to assess whether they reflect the

requirements for each component of the system and documentation for the system which is also

an important aspect of WSP. The plan to invite WOP partners is underway for auditing and

identification of areas for further improvement. On other hand, as customers’ satisfaction is

essential for verification of WSP; currently MUWSA performs customers’ satisfaction survey

semi-annually.

5.4 Management plans

WSP management implies definition of actions to be taken in response to variations that occur

during normal operational conditions; of actions to be taken in specific “incident” situations

where a loss of control of the system may occur; and of procedures to be followed in unforeseen

and emergency situations [6]. In view of the fact that MUWSA is ISO 9001: 2008 QMS Certified,

all management procedures and work instructions are already in place. Procedures and work

instructions which ensure quality of water is not compromised have been adopted and regularly

audited and reviewed.

On other hand, there are also many actions that are important in ensuring drinking water safety

but do not directly affect drinking water quality. These are consequently not control measures

but are referred to as supporting programmes. MUWSA has established a number of supporting

progrmmes so as to ensure its WSP control measures are effectively. Table 3 below outlines

some supporting programmes in place and their purposes.

10

Table 4. Established WSP Supporting Programmes

S/No Supporting Programme Purpose

1 Preventive Maintenance To ensures malfunction of important processes are minimized and assets are in good working order

2 Record Keeping To ensures WSP issues are easily followed

3 Staff Training To ensure organization personnel understand water safety and the influence of their actions.

4 Control access of people into water sources,

treatment plants, reservoirs and

implementation of security measure

To prevent transfer of hazards from people when they do enter water sources, treatment plants, reservoirs

5 NRW programmes To minimize contamination

6 Equipment Calibration To ensure Water quality is reliable to acceptable accuracy

7 Established research unit To conduct researches on drinking water hazards, risks and other organization issues

5.5 12 Months Achievements.

WSP implementation has substantially and positively changed the mind-set of operational staff.

Water quality related issues are now taken on board during operations and maintenance of

components of system because of on the going awareness creation, clear procedures and

working instructions in place. Apart from that, supporting staff and the community living in the

catchment area are now actively involved in ensuring the quality of water supplied is not

compromised. Moreover, with WSP MUWSA has managed to establish a series of monthly

reports from which it is possible to have prior understandings of problems and difficulties for an

efficient system management.

5.6 Challenges

Although MUWSA has managed to implement WSP, a number of challenges were encountered

during development and implementation. Initially most of staff had a common perception that

WSP is an additional work, but with training to members of management, WSP has been

cascaded down to all staff and positively received together with this, other challenges are

inadequacy of laboratory equipment, such that pesticides and heavy metals can not be verified

at MUWSA’s laboratory. Consequntly samples have to be sent to Tanzania Tropical Pesticides

11

Research Institute and other laboratories for further verification. Another major setback is lack of

funds for further training and implementation of improvement plans for control measures which

are not adequate.

5.7 Conclusion

Having developed and implemented WSP in 12 months, WSP is found to be useful to MUWSA.

In this short stint MUWSA is now benefiting from change in attitude of staff and culture towards

water quality and contamination risk. Systematic workmanship in all procedures has also

increased proficiency of work through established and documented procedures and work

instructions. Moreover preliminary results indicate that the WSP approach is cost effective.

6.0 References

[1] WHO, Water Safety Plans – Managing drinking-water quality from catchment to

consumer, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2005.

[2] Davison, A., Howard, G., Stevens, M., Callan, P., Fewtrell, L., Deere, D. & Bartram, J.

2005 Water Safety Plans: Managing Drinking-water Quality from Catchment to

Consumer. WHO/SDE/WSH/05.06. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

[3] Davison, A., Deere, D., Stevens, M., Howard, G. & Bartram, J. 2006 Water Safety Plan

Manual. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

[4] Deere, D., Stevens, M., Davison, A., Helm, G. & Dufour, A. 2001 Management

strategies. In Water Quality: Guidelines, Standards and Health. Assessment of Risk and

Risk for Water-related Infectious Disease (ed. L. Fewtrell & J. Bartram), IWA Publishing,

London, pp. 257–288. Quality management in water supply systems. Wat. Sci. Tech.

53(4–5), 483–492.

[5] Yokoi, H., Embutsu, I., Yoda, M. & Waseda, K. 2006 Study on the introduction of hazard

analysis critical control point (HACCP) of the water quality management in water supply

systems. Wat. Sci. Tech. 53(4–5), 483–492.

[6] WHO Guidelines for drinking – water quality, 3rd edition. Geneva, World Health

Organization, 2008.

[7] Sam Godfrey and Guy Howard, Water Safety Plans (WSP) for Urban Piped Water

Supplies In Developing Countries, Water, Engineering and Development Centre,

Loughborough University, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, 2004.